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A powerhouse singer, songwriter, producer, and dancer, Beyoncé is a multifaceted global superstar by any measure. The Houstonian rose to fame in the late '90s as the central member of pop-R&B group Destiny's Child. The following decade, she started her ongoing streak of number one solo studio albums with Dangerously in Love (2003), the source of her first number one pop single, the ecstatic "Crazy in Love." Nearly omnipresent hits such as the elegantly dismissive "Irreplaceable" (2006) and boisterous "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008), combined with sold-out world tours and Grammy Awards, all heightened Beyoncé's profile in the 2000s. Billboard named her female artist of the decade, while the RIAA acknowledged that, with 64 gold and platinum certifications, she was its top-selling artist. Beyoncé continued to diversify in the 2010s with the visual albums Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016), followed by the Jay-Z collaboration Everything Is Love (2018) and her work on the remake of The Lion King (2019). The latter project was expanded with the soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift, executive-produced by Beyoncé, who also wrote and directed the related musical film Black Is King (2020). Beyoncé has since become the most awarded artist in Grammy history with Renaissance (2022), a cosmopolitan dancefloor celebration tying together gospel, disco, house, bounce, and Afrobeats with nods to ballroom culture. The second act in that series, Cowboy Carter (2024), carried Beyoncé into the country music realm and topped the pop, country, and folk charts.

Born in Houston, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles began performing at age seven, winning over 30 local competitions for her dancing and vocal abilities. She joined her cousin Kelly Rowland and classmates LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett in forming an adolescent vocal group. Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé's father and Rowland's legal guardian, signed on to be the girls' manager, eventually quitting his full-time job to focus on their efforts. This situation would ultimately lead to the creation of one of the most popular female R&B groups of all time: Destiny's Child.

Destiny's Child gained momentum throughout the '90s. They appeared on Star Search in 1992 (under the name Girls Tyme) and weathered several lineup changes before signing to Columbia in 1997. Four studio albums later, the group had officially become the best-selling female group of all time, with such smash hits as "Jumpin' Jumpin'," "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Say My Name," and "Survivor" bolstering the young women's momentum despite lawsuits from former members Roberson and Luckett. In 2001, Beyoncé, Rowland, and replacement member Michelle Williams allowed themselves a break from the group to pursue individual solo careers. Before landing several movie roles, Beyoncé became the first Black female artist and second woman ever to win the annual ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year Award. An appearance in the MTV drama Carmen: A Hip Hopera quickly followed, but it was her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember that established her as a true Hollywood star.

While "Work It Out," her inclusion on the movie's soundtrack failed to chart in the U.S., it was a Top Ten hit in the U.K. Beyoncé's full-length solo debut, 2003's Dangerously in Love, reached multi-platinum status. Featuring collaborations with Sean Paul, Missy Elliott, OutKast's Big Boi, and romantic interest Jay-Z, the album spawned a total of four Top Ten singles and garnered the singer five Grammys. Destiny's Child reconvened the following year to release Destiny Fulfilled; upon completing the resulting tour, the group issued one final album, a greatest-hits compilation entitled #1's, and subsequently disbanded. Beyoncé turned her full attention to her burgeoning solo career. She released B'day in September 2006 and, three months later, turned in an award-winning performance for the movie musical Dreamgirls. The singer then embarked on the Beyoncé Experience concert tour and released a live DVD in November 2007.

The following year proved to be another busy one as Beyoncé landed the role of Etta James in Cadillac Records, a musical biopic that explored the heyday of Chicago's Chess label. Shooting commenced in February 2008, with Beyoncé also serving as co-executive producer. One month before the film's December release, the singer released her third studio album, I Am...Sasha Fierce. The double-disc effort emphasized her two distinct personalities, allowing Beyoncé to explore both mainstream sounds and traditional R&B. Some live releases followed. Released in 2009, I Am...Yours, a CD/DVD set, documented an August 2009 performance at Wynn Las Vegas, while 2010's I Am...World Tour, available in separate audio and video formats, was recorded at London's significantly larger O2 Arena (a few months after the Vegas program). She followed ten Grammy nominations with 2011's 4, which debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. One of her most energetic and empowering tracks, "Run the World (Girls)," was issued as the lead single, while "Love on Top" eventually won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

Giving birth to Blue Ivy Carter in January 2012 didn't slow her down. Within a few months, she was performing in Atlantic City, and she later appeared at President Barack Obama's second inauguration. Joined by Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland, she headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show. Life Is But a Dream, a documentary, first aired on HBO in February 2013, and was followed by appearances on albums by Rowland, the-Dream, and Jay-Z. New material, such as "Bow Down" and "Standing on the Sun," trickled out without proper releases. Then, on December 13 -- with no preceding announcement -- Beyoncé released a self-titled visual album (a full-length studio recording with an accompanying video for each song). Her husband and daughter, along with Drake, Frank Ocean, and writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (via a sampled TED talk), made guest appearances. Beyoncé, assisted by the likes of Hit-Boy, Pharrell, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Miguel, co-wrote and co-produced the majority of the album's material. Like Beyoncé's four previous solo albums, it went to number one, and quickly went platinum in the U.S. Three months after she completed the Mrs. Carter Show world tour, she and Jay-Z embarked on the On the Run Tour, which reached the U.S., Canada, and France from June through September 2014. The following February, she was nominated for six Grammy Awards and won three, including Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance, both for "Drunk in Love." Although she didn't release any new material in 2015, she co-wrote and appeared on Naughty Boy's Top Five U.K. pop hit "Runnin' (Lose It All)," and contributed vocals to Coldplay's "Hymn for the Weekend."

In February 2016, a new single, "Formation," and its trenchant accompanying video, were released just before her Super Bowl 50 half-time performance. That April, another striking visual album, Lemonade, premiered on HBO, and its audio was subsequently available for streaming and download. Some of the album's specific, forthright lyrics fueled speculation about the status of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's relationship. Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, James Blake, and the Weeknd appeared as featured artists, while Just Blaze, Mike Dean, and Diplo were among the co-producers. The Formation World Tour began days later, just before the album became her sixth consecutive number one studio album. After wrapping that half-year trek, Coachella announced that Beyoncé would be headlining the festival's 2017 installment. While that performance was eventually canceled due to the birth of her twins, she would make a triumphant return to the desert stage a year later. Backed by a pyramid constructed with bleachers and over two-hundred backing performers, Beyoncé became the first Black female to headline the festival, closing both weekends of Coachella 2018 with historic performances that highlighted Black culture and featured guest appearances by Jay-Z, Solange, and a reunited Destiny's Child.

Months later in June 2018, while Beyoncé and Jay-Z's co-headlining On the Run II tour was underway, the couple released Everything Is Love, a collaborative full-length credited to the Carters. Led by "Apeshit," a single featuring input from Pharrell Williams, Quavo, and Offset, the album narrowly missed the top spot on the Billboard 200. Wrapping at the end of the year, On the Run II was the third-highest grossing tour of 2018.

True to form, Beyoncé issued a surprise live album, the Grammy-winning Homecoming, in April 2019. Paired with a film of the same title, the set documented her 2018 Coachella performance and added a cover of Maze's "Before I Let Go." Later that year, she not only starred as Nala in the photorealistic remake of The Lion King, but curated the film's accompanying soundtrack, The Lion King: The Gift. Featuring a wealth of African artists collaborating with the likes of co-star Donald Glover, Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar, and Tierra Whack, the album also included her single "Spirit," which went on to receive both Grammy and Oscar nominations. Beyoncé returned to the top of the Hot 100 in May 2020 as a featured artist on Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage Remix." Only two months later, she was behind the musical film Black Is King, also her third visual album. She took four awards from the subsequent Grammy ceremony: Best R&B Performance (for the Juneteenth charity single "Black Parade"), Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance (both for "Savage"), and Best Music Video ("Brown Skin Girl"). Another soundtrack song, "Be Alive," arrived in May 2021 as part of the tennis biopic King Richard.

In June 2022, Beyoncé released "Break My Soul," a house track made with "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" collaborators the-Dream and Tricky Stewart, as the first single off her seventh studio album. The song reached the Top 20 of the Hot 100 before the late-July arrival of its parent release, Renaissance. A vibrant and uptempo collection inspired in part by post-'70s Black and queer dance music, Renaissance debuted at number one and in early 2023 earned Beyoncé four more Grammy Awards, making her the most awarded artist in the organization's history. Following the triumphant Renaissance World Tour, she released its accompanying documentary concert movie Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, which she wrote, directed, and produced. A new track, "My House," was released in conjunction.

Beyoncé's next era was unveiled in February 2024 during Super Bowl LVIII in the form of singles such as the chart-topping "Texas Hold 'Em" -- the first number one on the country chart by a Black woman -- and the sweeping "16 Carriages," from the country-tinged second act of her album trilogy, which she dubbed Cowboy Carter. The expansive 27-song set staked her claim in the genre with the help of guests such as veterans Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Linda Martell, while the likes of Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, and Shaboozey represented a younger generation of Black country artists. An intensely personal statement about reclamation, belonging, and legacy, Cowboy Carter entered the pop, country, and folk charts at number one. When the Grammy nominations were announced in late 2024, Beyoncé led the pack with 11 nominations, making her the most nominated artist in show's history. ~ TiVo Staff

One of the most acclaimed artists of his generation, hip-hop or otherwise, Kendrick Lamar is known for his top-tier lyricism, virtuosic microphone command, and sharp conceptual vision. His talents have translated to a rare combination of continuous chart feats and critical acclaim, plus respect and support from the rappers who paved the way for his advancement. The Compton native started in his teens and hit his creative and commercial stride in the 2010s, during which he authored the multi-platinum good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), followed up with the Grammy-winning To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), and scaled another new height with the Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN. (2017). All three displayed an unmatched mix of inventive wordplay and riveting narratives with an assertion of artistic dominance, examination of internal conflict, and upliftment of community all centered. Those qualities were also exemplified in seven concurrent Top 40 singles that included "Swimming Pools (Drank)," "i," and the Hot 100-topping "HUMBLE." Lamar's screenplay-level detail on those recordings was enriched by a shifting collective of associates, many of whom -- from inspirations Dr. Dre and MC Eiht to peers such as Sounwave, Terrace Martin, and Thundercat -- likewise represent Los Angeles. The rapper's cinematic and collaborative inclinations inevitably attracted the mainstream film industry, leading to an executive-production role on Black Panther: The Album (2018), the source of three additional Top 40 hits. Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022), fueled by intense self-analysis, became Lamar's sixth number one on the Billboard 200 despite containing his most challenging and confrontational work. The lean surprise release GNX (2024) capped a year in which Lamar topped the Hot 100 again with "Like That" (a collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin) and "Not Like Us" (the peak of a public feud with Drake).

Compton, California native Kendrick Lamar Duckworth grew up immersed in hip-hop culture and surrounded by gang activity. As a youngster, he gradually discovered an aptitude for writing stories, poems, and lyrics, which naturally led to rapping. He made a name for himself as K. Dot. At the age of 16 in 2003, he issued his debut mixtape, The Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year. While it merely hinted at the potential of the then-teenager, it was impressive enough to catch the attention of Top Dawg Entertainment and led to a long-term association with the label that steadily propelled his career. Training Day, the Jay Rock collaboration No Sleep 'til NYC, and C4, issued from 2005 through 2009, likewise preceded Lamar's decision to go by his first and middle names. The last of the three was issued the same year he became part of Black Hippy, a group whose members -- including fellow TDE artists Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and ScHoolboy Q -- frequently appeared on one another's mixtapes and albums.

The first tape credited to Kendrick Lamar was Overly Dedicated, released in September 2010. Also the rapper's first commercial release, it reached enough listeners to enter Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. After XXL magazine selected him for the 2011 Freshman Class feature, Lamar released his first official album, Section.80, that July, and crossed into the Billboard 200, reaching number 113. With deeper conceptual narratives and sharpened melodic hooks, as well as comparative multidimensional development from primary producer Sounwave, the set acted as a kind of warning flare for Lamar's mainstream rap dominance. In addition to the dozens of tracks he had appeared on by then, Lamar had the support of veteran West Coast stars as well. During a concert later in 2011, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Game dubbed him "The New King of the West Coast," a notion Dre endorsed more significantly by signing Lamar to his Interscope-affiliated Aftermath label.

Lamar's major-label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was released in October 2012 and entered the Billboard 200 at number two. Three of its singles -- "Swimming Pools (Drank)," "Poetic Justice," and "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" -- reached the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and went Top 40 pop. More significantly, the album showcased Lamar as an exceptional storyteller capable of making compelling concept albums. It led to Grammy nominations in four categories: Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (for "Now or Never," a deluxe edition bonus cut featuring Mary J. Blige). Miguel's "How Many Drinks?" and A$AP Rocky's "Fuckin' Problems," two tracks on which Lamar made guest appearances, were nominated as well.

Rather than rest, Lamar remained active during 2013-2014, touring as well as appearing on tracks by the likes of Tame Impala, YG, and fellow Top Dawg affiliate SZA. The proud single "i" was released in September of the latter year, became Lamar's fourth Top 40 single, and won Grammys for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. Still rolling, he announced in early 2015 that his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly, would be out in March with tracks featuring Snoop Dogg, Bilal, Thundercat, and George Clinton. A technical error caused the digital version to be released eight days early, but the LP nonetheless topped the Billboard 200 with sales of 325,000 copies within its first week. It made numerous best-of lists at the end of the year and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album. The defiant and life-affirming "Alright," which was quickly adopted by the Black Lives Matter activist movement, along with another single, "These Walls," took awards for Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Riding high on his wins and a striking Grammy ceremony performance, Lamar followed up in March 2016 with untitled unmastered., consisting of demos recorded during the previous three years. Like the preceding release, it debuted at number one, and seamlessly synthesized beatmaking and traditional musicianship from the likes of Sounwave, Terrace Martin, and Thundercat. Within a month, Lamar added to his ever-lengthening discography of featured appearances with his contribution to Beyoncé's "Freedom."

Led by "HUMBLE.," his first number one pop hit, DAMN. arrived in April 2017 and likewise entered the Billboard 200 at the top. Remarkably, all 14 of the album's songs entered the Hot 100, and it was certified multi-platinum within three months. Among the contributors were Rihanna and U2, but at this point, the supporting roles were beneficial more for the guest artists than they were for Lamar, whose artistic clout was unrivaled. He snagged five more Grammys: DAMN. won Best Rap Album; "HUMBLE." took Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Video; and Best Rap/Sung Performance went to "LOYALTY.," the Rihanna collaboration. Another number one hit followed in February 2018. The soundtrack Black Panther: The Album featured Lamar on every track. Its three singles -- "All the Stars" (with SZA), "King's Dead" (with Jay Rock and Future), and "Pray for Me" (with the Weeknd) -- eventually hit the Top 40. That April, DAMN. won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. It was the first time the judges recognized a work outside the genres of classical and jazz. Months later, "King's Dead" made Lamar a 13-time Grammy winner when it took the award for Best Rap Performance. "All the Stars" alone was nominated in four categories, while Black Panther was up for Album of the Year. The film itself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

After some time away from music that included an acting role in the fifth season of the Starz network series Power, Lamar resurfaced in August 2021 on cousin Baby Keem's "Family Ties." The single, a highlight of The Melodic Blue, Keem's album debut for Lamar and Dave Free's new pgLang label, won Best Rap Performance at the following Grammys. Lamar then performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside hip-hop royalty that included Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Mary J. Blige.

In May 2022, Lamar issued "The Heart, Pt. 5" as a ruminative prelude to his fifth full-length. An emotionally complex and raw double album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers landed later that month and went straight to the top of the Billboard 200. In addition to Keem, the likes of Sampha, Kodak Black, and Portishead's Beth Gibbons made featured appearances. It was named Best Rap Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, where "The Heart, Pt. 5" took the awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. Also in 2023, he was featured on Beyoncé's single "America Has a Problem."

In 2024, Lamar was part of a well-publicized feud with Drake and J. Cole. After Cole had named the three as the "big three" greatest rappers in modern hip-hop, Lamar asserted that he was the only one during his guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin's song "Like That," which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Cole then criticized Lamar on his song "7 Minute Drill," which was met with a poor reception; Cole apologized for the song and removed it from streaming services. In April, Drake released two diss tracks against Lamar, who responded with the vitriolic "Euphoria" and "6:16 in L.A." After another exchange of diss tracks, Lamar again returned fire with "Not Like Us," a collaboration with Mustard that broke single-day streaming records, topped the Hot 100, and earned Grammy nominations in five categories, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year. That November, with no advance notice, Lamar released his sixth album, GNX. Sounwave and Jack Antonoff co-produced each track with variable assistance from the likes of Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, and Mustard. ~ Andy Kellman